Fundraising Quilt Raffle!

OK - the dust has settled, and the winners have been drawn!! BOTH quilts were won by women named "Anne" -- and both are from Illinois! What are the odds!?!?

The Marsha Bray, "Windmills in Autumn," quilt will be going to Anne Robin, from Champaign, IL. Karen hopes to deliver it the last weekend in Sept., at a Barn Dance weekend in the "Chambana" area...

The Stephanie Sappington, "Squared Silk Ties" quilt, won by Anne Jones, is being given back to Karen, to re-raffle for Julie's benefit at a future time that feels appropriate!! Woo hoo!"

The total brought in from ticket sales and donations was a whopping $2800!! (This community ROCKS!!) AND - with that amount being doubled by another "anonymous donor," as a "matching grant," the grand total going to Julie and her needs will *actually* be $5600!! How awesome is that?!?! This means that we've pre-paid for Julie's E-stim therapy bike, as well as the packing, shipping, unpacking and setting up of same, as WELL as some money to go directly into her trust to be used as needed. Karen has plans to deliver "the goods" to Julie on September 20, 2012.

Yay, dancers!! :)

A Bit of Background

Our dear friend Julie Carman, from the Carbondale area, was involved in a terrible car accident last year which left her unable to walk or use her fingers. She's been working hard to do everything possible to regenerate the nerve connections that will allow her to have as close to a normal life as she can, and amazingly, she's maintained her fabulous, luminescent spirit through all these trials.

There was hardly any insurance coverage to help her out - not her own, and not the other driver's.

She's found a piece of equipment that may help her rejuvenate her muscles, one of a type that had helped her before. It's a used one, but it still costs several thousand dollars, which would put a huge dent in her trust fund, so the dance community is doing what it can to help her raise the money.

Marsha Bray and Stephanie Sappington donated the beautiful quilts that were raffled off. Marsha made the quilt she donated, and Stephanie's mother and grandmother worked together to make the other one, largely out of silk ties! The drawing was on Sept. 15, 2012, at the Monday club.

The raffle is now over, but the opportunity to help Julie is not! As you can imagine, without health insurance, needed medical help can be simply unaffordable.

You can make a direct donation to Julie's trust fund, using a check made out to "Julie Carman," or "Julie Carman Payback Trust," and mailed to her sister at: